Commenting on the latest data from the government tracking school pupil and staff attendance and Covid-related absence figures, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The number of pupils absent due to Covid dropped after half term but, as today’s figures show, that reprieve was short-lived. There has been a marked increase in Covid-related absence once again.

“In addition to the existing disruption, there is now also significant concern about the impact the new variant of Covid could have on schools. School leaders can’t help but remember winter term 2020 and just how bad things got. The government was too slow to act last year – it cannot repeat those same mistakes this year.

“We can’t rely on the Christmas holidays acting as another natural firebreak – the travel and family mixing done over Christmas means infection is more likely to spread into the wider population. It is better to act cautiously early on than to come anywhere close to a position where schools are forced to close again.

“More needs to be done to safeguard primary and special schools – at the moment they seem to be being entirely overlooked by government. And more support needs to be given to all schools to help with ventilation, testing, close contact tracing, and staff cover. We would urge the government to take every safety measure possible while maintaining face-to-face education, in order to avoid longer-term school closures.

“Given the current level of disruption and the pressure on schools, it completely wrong that Ofsted are continuing to carry out routine inspections at this time. Not only is it the very last thing schools need when they are struggling to navigate the current situation and are working flat-out just to keep open and minimise disruption for learners, it is also a very bad idea for people to be visiting multiple different schools and potentially helping the – now even more contagious – virus to spread.

“School leaders have already been making difficult decisions about nativities, based on the guidance they have received from local health teams. Where this means cancelling nativities, or parents being unable to attend, many schools will explore other options such as online-only performances.”